Best Tips to Prevent and Get Rid of Crepey Skin

Ever noticed crepey skin in your body? Just acknowledge it, because everyone has their own crepey skin. Take a look at your knee or elbow. The skin texture on those areas is different with the others. It’s called crepey skin. But as we grow older, the skin will start to appear crepey. Actually we can’t generalize the type of crepey skin because it may looks similar with other aging character of skin, such as wrinkle. That’s why in this article, we will discuss further about crepey skin, especially the tips to get rid of crepey skin. Before we talk about that, let’s get to know more about crepey skin.

What is Crepey Skin?

Crepey skin can appear in many places, where the skin is more delicate and thin. It looks like elephant skin due to its crinkled-texture. There are many names to this condition: crepe-paper; grandma skin; or paper-thin skin. Dermatologist from New York, Macrene Elaxiades, MD defined crepey skin as one of the most difficult signs of skin aging to be prevented, due to its different causes [1]. It can occur on so many different parts of our body. Crepey skin usually appears when you are 40s. But, it can also appear early when you are still at 20s. This elephant-like skin doesn’t come out of the blue. Crepey skin needs months, or even years, to transform. That’s why the question of how to get rid crepey skin becomes one of the most concerns of people.

Like what we’ve mentioned before, crepey skin can appear anywhere. But it tends to appear at susceptible areas like neck, shoulders, back, upper inner arms, chest, finger joints, and more commonly on elbows and knees. Actually the character of our skin is elastic. But as we age, the elasticity is decreasing. So crepey skin can appear anywhere on the skin that is thin and often stretched. But what is the main cause of crepey skin? You will discover it in the next part of this article.

Crepey Skin, Where Are You From?

Aging

First and foremost, as we grow older the skin will gradually become loose and lack of collagen. This element has important role to the stretchiness of our skin. At early 30s, the protein production in your skin also begins to drop. This situation will lead to wrinkle and thin skin. The moisture level of skin also becomes lower as we age. Thus, aging plays a primary role in the appearance of crepey skin.

Sun Exposure

Loose and flaccid skin also comes from the exposure of sunlight. Anyone who has low melanin level will see the sign of crepey skin sooner than anyone else. This also applied to those with lighter skin tone, who are more sensitive to sun exposure. The American Academy of Dermatology (ADA) stated that 95 percent of skin aging is easier to find due to sun exposure. The UV radiation also becomes more dangerous if it’s run within your family.

Sudden Change in Weight

Similar to cellulite, drastic change in your weight can lead to crepey skin. Like what we have mentioned above, the elasticity of skin is no longer in its maximum condition. If you are doing diet and experiencing major change in your weight, the skin can’t get back to its former condition easily. The difference of skin before and after weight loss will appear as crepey skin.

Unbalance Sleeping Position

How is your sleeping habit? If you are more likely to sleep in one side, please do notice that this comes as one of the causes of crepey skin. Dermatologist from Cleveland Clinic, Melissa Piliang, MD, explained that when we sleep in our side or stomach, our face will be smashed down against the pillow. This condition will make the skin pushed into creases as we sleep for about 6 until 8 hours. Stay alert, because this is not only applied to our face, but also to the whole part of our body. Gravity when we sleep to one side will press the bottom part. Add more pressure and heat, will result to crinkly skin. It’s better to sleep on your back to get rid of crepey skin.

High Sugar Intake

Pay attention to this. It’s not only salt intake that affect our skin. When you have too much sugar intake, there will be a process called glycation. What is this? It’s the bonding of lipid or fat with sugar molecule. If this occurred, the protein fibers will be stiff and form incorrectly. Another shortcoming is when we have low level collagen and elastin, the skin will be weak and less pliable. Do remember that proteins have critical role to maintain the freshness of our skin.

Chronic Use of Medication

This is the downside of using medication related to skin-aging. Please be very careful, because taking too much medication won’t give any help to your skin condition. Consider more before doing tanning-bed because the amount UV intake can affect your skin. Studies show that exposure to UV radiation will damage the DNA in skin cells. Besides indoor tanning, the use of cream and medications has its limitations. Chronic use of medical things will affect the structure of the skin.

Smoking

Are you a smoker? Then it will be no surprise if crepey skin appears in most of your body’s parts. The duration and amount of smoke that you consume will affect your skin’s condition directly. There are thousand chemicals ingredients in smoke. Those ingredients are likely damage the collagen and elastin of the skin. Pay more attention too if you are living in environment and be the passive smoker. The cigarette smoke that touches your skin will be a shortcoming for you.

Can We Prevent Crepey Skin?

The answer for question above is yes, we can. Before we come to a condition where we can’t control the elastin and collagen level in our body, try the best to prevent the appearance of crepey skin. It’s so much easier to be safe than sorry, right? Here it goes, we have summarized 4 easy tips to prevent crepey skin.

1. Stay Out the Sun

As much as possible, stay in shade. But if it’s impossible for you who work on the field every day, use the protection. Have a good choice of great moisturizer or body lotion that can protect your skin. Heidi A. Waldord, MD, director of cosmetic dermatology at Mount Sinai Hospital recommended products with hyaluronic acid ingredients to prevent the appearance of crepey skin. Use sunscreen with SPF 30 or 45 before you step outside the house. Working indoor? Still, make sure the glass wall next to your table has UV filter.

2. Stay Hydrated

The dry condition of the skin is the beginning of crepey skin. Drink proper amount of water daily, like 8 glasses a day, to make sure that your skin is well-hydrated. Just water, not the one with color or sugar addition. Keep the moisture level of your skin to enhance the collagen production [2]. More moisturized you are, the more elastic your skin will be. Moisture also has vital role to balance the oil content in the skin to prevent crepey condition.

3. Do Healthy Lifestyle

The role of prevention works from within the body. Besides the amount of water intake a day, consume meals rich in vitamins and minerals. Start small with foods like fruits, vegetables, and healthy fat. Make it as a habit. And don’t forget to limit the sugar intake like we discussed above. This will give you a bonus: healthy body.

4. Use Cream, But Test It First

Not every moisturizing product on the rack is good for your skin. Test it first, make sure that the hypoallergenic label is safe for you. There are so many choices of cream to prevent or get rid of crepey skin, but don’t use too many. Choose wisely which product that suits you the most. Usually it takes 3 months for a product to give impact to your skin.

5. Limit Late Night Eating

Dinner should be dinner, not late night eating after 8 p.m. Avoid highly processed foods with rich sodium contents. Remember, eating late night may be enjoyable. But it will make your skin worse and make you older than it is. Do healthy diet, but lose the weight slowly, never too drastic.

At-Home Treatments

Don’t be panic if the prevention steps that you did weren’t giving you any good impact. There are still many ways to get rid of crepey skin. You can choose the range of anti-aging creams on the rack. But, you can also do it by yourself. Some of them are very easy, you can do it at home. Here, we have summarized the treatments to get rid of crepey skin easily.

Facial Expressions. Ever notice the skin around your neck and under eyes that tend to be crepey? Try to exercise this facial expression. Lift the skin on your neck upward, defying the gravity. The same exercise goes to the skin under your eyes. Of course it won’t give any change all of sudden. Do it regularly.

Watch Your Posture. You can regularly do exercise with your body and make it as a habit. When you sit on a chair, lean back until you can see the ceiling. Stretch your jaw until you feel the tightening of your muscles. Stay in that position for 15 seconds. Do it 10 rounds each day.

Dry Brushing. It can be one of the most natural treatments to get rid of crepey skin. There are many benefits of dry brushing, like increasing blood circulation; improves skin texture; prevents premature aging; even makes your relieved from stress.

Egg Mask. Who knows that egg mask can help you to get rid of crepey skin? You just need one egg and apply it on your face regularly. The rich protein ingredients within eggs can help you to firm the skin.

Sugar Scrub. Do regularly scrub your crepey skin with sugar. It will help to remove dry and dead skin cells. Do it daily to improve the appearance of your skin.

Honey and Olive Oil. Massage the crepey skin areas with the mix of olive oil and honey. Let it sit as long as possible. Rinse off with warm water, no soap needed. This combination will make your skin feel soft and hydrated.

Rice Mask. As we know, rice has rich source of squalene and linoleic acids that can enhance the collagen production within the skin. It also has powerful antioxidant ingredients. Mix half cup of boiled rice with milk and honey. Stir well. Wait until it cools down, and mask it for 20 minutes to the crepey skin.

Rosehip Oil. Many people admit that this oil is the holy-grail for skins moisturize. Use it as lotion for crepey skin. You can apply it topically to your elephant-like skin. A study from the journal of Clinical Interventions in Aging, found that oil content from rosehip will nourish the outer layer of the skin [3]. It also works against the oxidative damage.

Aloe Vera. Boost the collagen and elasticity of your skin with Aloe Vera. Quoted from Indian Journal of Dermatology, scientists found that Aloe Vera stimulates fibroblast cells to increase collagen levels. Regularly apply pure aloe vera gel to crepey skin areas like hands, face, neck, and arms. You can also mix it with coconut oil to boost the get smoother skin.

Avocado Oil. The journal from Connective Tissue Research mentioned that avocado oil also has the role to increase collagen synthesis within our body. This will help you to get rid of crepey skin. How to do it? Just gently massage avocado oil to crepey skin areas. By doing this regularly, the elasticity of your skin will be improved, and appear smoother.

After all of the tips we gave you, basically we know that it’s impossible to avoid aging. But doing the prevention of crepey skin will give many benefits to us. Know the causes of crepey skin, and do your best to preserve your skin. Nothing comes instant at a glance, but do it to prevent the breakdown of your skin over the years. Pick healthy decisions to improve your skin, prevent dry skin, and get rid of crepey skin. After all, choosing which one is the best treatments should suit your needs and budgets. Make sure that you have consult with the professionals like dermatologist or do deep research to help you decide which treatment is the best. Good luck!